UNITED NATIONS — Iran has no intention to build nuclear weapons, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, just days before international sanctions could be reimposed on his country over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

“I hereby declare once more before this assembly that Iran has never sought and will never seek to build a nuclear bomb. We do not seek nuclear weapons,” Pezeshkian said.

On August 28, Britain, France and Germany launched a 30-day process to reimpose U.N. sanctions that ends on September 27, accusing Tehran of failing to abide by a 2015 deal with world powers aimed at preventing it from developing a nuclear weapon.

The European powers have offered to delay reinstating sanctions for up to six months to allow space for talks on a long-term deal if Iran restores access for U.N. nuclear inspectors, addresses concerns about its stock of enriched uranium, and engages in talks with the United States.

Pezeshkian accused the so-called E3 of triggering the process to return international sanctions on Iran at “the behest of the United States of America.”

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(Writing by Parisa Hafezi, Editing by Michelle Nichols and Hugh Lawson)